Tag Archives: Ximena Hartsock

Hi there, and welcome to the first of an occasional series called Anatomy of a Scandal. There’s always something to fight about when it comes to DC politics, and that’s just the local stuff, not what happens over at the Capitol. Unlike national politics, though, not every local political adventure has a clear set of sides and players. We’re here to help figure some of this stuff out. First up? Department of Parks and Recreation. It’s been sort of a long drawn out cluster of scandals, and you should probably know some of the people involved.

Dramatis PersonaeAdrian Fenty, Mayor of the District of ColumbiaPeter Nickles, His Attorney GeneralVincent Gray, Chairman of the City Council, rival to FentyKwame Brown, At-Large CouncilmanMarion Barry, Hizzoner EmeritusXimena Hartsock, Interim/Acting Director of the Department of Parks & Recreation, appointed by Mayor Fenty (twice…)DC Housing Authority, a quasi-governmental entityOmar Karim, friend of the Mayor, fraternity brother to Adrian Fenty.

It’s finally official. After years of neighborhood arguments, years of planning, and months of construction, the new S street dog park is finally open. Yesterday, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilmember Jack Evans, and several other DC political types gave speeches about how great the new park is going to be, patted themselves on the back, and then made it official by cutting a dog leash, not a ribbon. Ximena Hartsock, the Director of Parks and Recreation was on hand for the event as was the old Director, Clark Ray, who was axed by Fenty back in April. It appears that there are no hard feelings between Fenty and Ray as the mayor gave credit to him for turning the dream into a reality. As Jack Evans said (who brought his dog Kelly to the park), Fenty’s motto is “get it done”.